becky monson – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 345 pages
Author: Becky Monson
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: July 24th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Running away from my disastrous career to an island off the Florida coast wasn’t part of my summer plans, but life hasn’t been cooperative lately, anyway. At least here, I can hide away and figure out how to untangle the mess I’ve gotten myself into.

One thing is certain: my A-list status and title of America’s Sweetheart are long gone, and they’re probably never coming back. I’ll just remain on this island until the worst of it blows over. Until the gossip magazines move on to another juicy topic. Until the paparazzi lose interest.

The problem is, I’m feeling pretty bored and lonely. Sneaking into town and grabbing a book to keep me occupied turns out not to be my best move. Because what I absolutely don’t need is Briggs Dalton, the man who runs the shop. He’s handsome and funny, and I can’t stop thinking about him.

Briggs believes that despite the chaos that is my life, I can still have a fun summer, and he’s determined to prove it to me.

Maybe, just maybe, this summer could turn out to be a happy one after all.

NOT QUITE CLICKING.

I wish I could put a finger on what exactly wasn’t working for me here but I will do my best to explain. There was something about the writing style that wasn’t working. The inner dialogue was kind of repetitive and the celebrity aspects of this weren’t my favorite. I am hard to please on that trope and this was clear for most of the book to be troublesome.

Also, the amount of references to Notting Hill (which I haven’t seen…) were wayyy to many. It felt odd to mention how similar their relationship was to the movie? And I feel like too many of the plot aspects were not tied up, I’m still thinking about a few holes to the story that needed filled.

There were some cute scenes. And I liked Briggs and Presley well enough. I still love the summertime vibes brought out in this series and it was a sweet read.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Content Warnings: loss of a step-dad (recounted)

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 317 pages
Author: Becky Monson
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: April 2nd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A reluctant woman, a determined popstar, and the song that started it all.

After growing up in Nashville with two musician parents, I promised myself one thing—I would never, ever fall in love with anyone who had anything to do with the music scene. I will take my stable, albeit boring, accountant boyfriend, thank you very much, and live securely ever after. At least that was the plan. Who knew one ridiculous party where boy band sensation Finn Thatcher showed up would turn my life completely upside down.

How dare he write a song about me. A song that went straight to number one. A song that messes everything up with his band. And who gets the blame for that? That’s right, me. I’m the new Yoko Ono. The only way to fix it is to, well . . . give the world what it wants—a love story. We are talking the whole freaking fairy tale. Nothing says true love like a fake relationship. But what if it’s not so fake? What if I want the happily ever after? Or am I just another love song to Finn?

Thank you to the author for a gifted audiobook!

GREAT AUDIO.

I love a good audiobook and the narrator did an amazing job. I felt fully immersed in the story and I think that also really helped my thoughts overall.

I tend to struggle with rock star romances. I don’t know why, but I keep trying because I know I’ll find some good ones out there. And I consider this a good one (and a sweet one for my sweet romance fans!). I liked the soulful connection between Louella and Finn. The instant chemistry was played off really well and I liked the slow burn strangers to friends to lovers that occurred over months together. I didn’t LOVE that Louella was dating someone for 75% of the book (but I know that’s a preference thing and I just prefer the break-up to happen much sooner).

Finn fell first and HARD and he was just so dang sweet. I liked his personality and how hard he worked to be a good friend, musician and someone you actually wanted to be friends with. I loved all of the late night texts and phone calls and the smooth lyrics that were clearly showing all of Finn’s feelings.

This was my first Becky Monson book and it convinced me that I would love to read another. I liked her writing style and story telling. This was a good read and I think fantastic for summertime!

Overall audience notes: